Hayward Municipal Code Ch. 1 General Provisions

1.01 Purpose and Policy. These Wastewater Discharge Regulations impose requirements for discharges into the wastewater collection and treatment systems and enable the City of Hayward to comply with the administrative provisions of the Federal Clean Water Act, National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit conditions set by the Regional Water Quality Control Board including applicable effluent limitations, national standards of performance, toxic and pretreatment effluent standards, and any other discharge criteria which are required or authorized by state or federal law, and to derive the maximum public benefits by regulating the quality and quantity of wastewater discharged into the East Bay Dischargers Authority system. These regulations provide a means for determining wastewater volumes, the setting of user charges and fees for the equitable distribution of costs to all users, and issuance of permits to certain users. Revenues derived from the application of these regulations shall be used to defray the City's costs of operating and maintaining adequate wastewater collection and treatment systems and to provide sufficient funds for capital outlay, bond service costs, capital improvements, and depreciation.

1.02 Definitions. For the purpose of this Article, certain words and phrases are defined and shall be construed as set out in this section. Unless specifically defined below, words or phrases used in this Article shall be interpreted so as to give them the meaning they have in common usage and to give this Article its most reasonable application. Terms herein shall be consistent with words and definitions in the Code of Federal Regulations Title 40 (40 CFR), Parts 136 and 403, the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Act, and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act as amended in 1972. Words, phrases or terms not specifically defined herein, and having a technical or specialized meaning shall be defined as set forth in 40 CFR Parts 136 and 403.

(a) Amalgam. An alloy containing mercury, tin, silver, or copper that is used in dentistry to restore teeth.

(b) Authorized or Duly Authorized Representative of the User.

(1) If the User is a corporation:

(i) The president, secretary, treasurer, or a vice-president of the corporation in charge of a principal business function, or any other person who performs similar policy or decision-making functions for the corporation; or

(ii) The manager of one (1) or more manufacturing, production, or operating facilities, provided the manager is authorized to make management decisions that govern the operation of the regulated facility including having the explicit or implicit duty of making major capital investment recommendations, and initiate and direct other comprehensive measures to assure long-term environmental compliance with environmental laws and regulations; can ensure that the necessary systems are established or actions taken to gather complete and accurate information for individual wastewater discharge permit requirements; and where authority to sign documents has been assigned or delegated to the manager in accordance with corporate procedures.

(2) If the User is a partnership or sole proprietorship: a general partner or proprietor, respectively.

(3) If the User is a Federal, State, or local governmental facility: a director or highest official appointed or designated to oversee the operation and performance of the activities of the government facility, or their designee.

(4) The individuals described in paragraphs 1 through 3, above, may designate a Duly Authorized Representative if the authorization is in writing, the authorization specifies the individual or position responsible for the overall operation of the facility from which the discharge originates or having overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company, and the written authorization is submitted to the City. If an authorization of this section is no longer accurate because a different individual or position has responsibility for the overall operation of the facility, or overall responsibility for environmental matters for the company, a new authorization satisfying the requirements of paragraphs 1 through 3 of this section shall be submitted to the City prior to or together with any reports to be signed by an authorized representative.

(c) Beneficial Uses. Uses of the waters of the state that may be protected against quality degradation include, but are not necessarily limited to, domestic, municipal, agricultural and industrial supply, power generation, recreation, aesthetic enjoyment, navigation and the preservation and enhancement of fish, wildlife and other aquatic organisms, resources or reserves, and other uses, both tangible or intangible, as specified by federal or state law.

(d) Best Management Practices or BMPs. Schedules of activities, prohibitions of practices, maintenance procedures, and other management practices to implement the prohibitions listed in Chapter 2. BMPs include treatment requirements, operating procedures, and practices to control plant site runoff, spillage or leaks, sludge or waste disposal, or drainage from raw materials storage. BMPs also include alternative means (i.e., management plans) of complying with, or in place of certain established categorical pretreatment standards and effluent limits.

(e) Building Sewer. A sewer conveying wastewater from the premises of a user to the City sewer.

(f) Bypass. The intentional diversion of waste streams from any portion of a user's treatment facility.

(g) Carbonaceous Biochemical Oxygen Demand or CBOD. The quantity of oxygen utilized in the biochemical oxidation of organic matter in the presence of a nitrification inhibitor under standard laboratory procedures for five (5) days at 20 degrees centigrade, usually expressed as a concentration (e.g., mg/l).

(h) Categorical Pretreatment Standard or Categorical Standard. Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by EPA in accordance with sections 307(b) and (c) of the Act (33 U.S.C. section 1317) that apply to a specific category of users and that appear in 40 CFR Chapter I, Subchapter N, Parts 405-471.

(i) Categorical Industrial User. An Industrial User subject to a categorical pretreatment standard or categorical standard.

(j) City. The City of Hayward.

(k) City Sewer. A sewer owned and operated by the City of Hayward and tributary to the treatment facility operated by the City.

(l) Compatible Pollutant. Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), suspended solids (SS), pH and fecal coliform bacteria, plus additional pollutants identified in the City's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit if the publicly owned treatment works was designed to treat such pollutants, and in fact does remove such pollutants to a substantial degree. As required by the NPDES permit, the City analyzes carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand (CBOD), a component of total BOD.

(m) Composite Sample. A sample which is collected manually or automatically, and discretely or continuously, based on time or flow intervals.

(n) Contamination. An impairment of the quality of the waters of the state by waste to a degree which creates a hazard to the public health through poisoning or through the spread of disease. Contamination shall include any equivalent effect resulting from the disposal of wastewater, whether or not waters of the state are affected.

(o) Daily Maximum Limit. The maximum allowable discharge limit of a pollutant during a calendar day. Where Daily Maximum Limits are expressed in units of mass, the daily discharge is the total mass discharged over the course of the day. Where Daily Maximum Limits are expressed in terms of a concentration, the daily discharge is the arithmetic average measurement of the pollutant concentration derived from all measurements taken that day.

(p) Direct Discharge. The discharge of treated or untreated wastewater directly to the Waters of the State of California.

(q) Domestic Sewage. Liquid and waterborne wastes derived from the ordinary living processes, free from industrial wastes, and of such character as to permit satisfactory disposal, without special treatment, into the City's sewerage system.

(r) East Bay Dischargers Authority. The joint powers of authority comprised of the City of Hayward, the City of San Leandro, the Oro Loma Sanitary District, the Castro Valley Sanitary District, and the Union Sanitary District.

(s) EPA. The United States Environmental Protection Agency or, where appropriate, a duly authorized official of said agency.

(t) Existing Source. Any source of discharge that is not a "New Source."

(u) Federal Act, Clean Water Act, or Act. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act, PL 92-500, and any amendments thereto; as well as any guidelines, limitations, and standards promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pursuant to the Act. Text of the original law and subsequent amendments are documented in 33 U.S. Code 1251.

(v) Grab Sample. A sample that is taken from a wastestream without regard to the flow in the wastestream and over a period of time not to exceed fifteen (15) minutes.

(w) Holding Tank Waste. Any waste from holding tanks such as vessels, chemical toilets, campers, trailers, septic tanks, and vacuum pump tank trucks.

(x) Incompatible Pollutant. Any pollutant which is not a compatible pollutant as defined in this section.

(y) Indirect Discharge or Discharge. The discharge or introduction of pollutants from any source regulated under Section 307(b) or (c) of the Act into the POTW.

(z) Industrial User. All establishments engaged in producing, manufacturing, or processing operations, which result in the production and/or discharge into City sewers of industrial wastes; and all other establishments engaged in any activity resulting in the production and discharge to City sewers of industrial wastes.

(aa) Instantaneous Limit. The maximum concentration of a pollutant allowed to be discharged at any time, determined from the analysis of any discrete or composited sample collected, independent of the industrial flow rate and the duration of the sampling event.

(bb) Interference. A discharge which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, both:

(1) inhibits or disrupts the POTW, its treatment processes or operations, or its sludge processes, use or disposal; and

(2) therefore is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the POTW's NPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation) or of the prevention of sewage sludge use or disposal in compliance with the following statutory provisions and regulations or permits issued thereunder (or more stringent state or local regulations): Section 405 of the Clean Water Act, the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA) (including Title II, more commonly referred to as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and including state regulations contained in any state sludge management plan prepared pursuant to subtitle D of the SWDA), the Clean Air Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, and the Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act.

(cc) Local Limit. Specific discharge limits developed and enforced by the City upon industrial or commercial facilities to implement the general and specific discharge prohibitions listed in 40 CFR 403.5(a)(1) and (b).

(dd) Manager. The City Manager or designated staff such as the Public Works Director and Water Pollution Source Control Administration.

(ee) Mass Emission Rate. The mass of material discharged to the sewer system during a given time interval. Unless otherwise specified, the mass emission rate shall be expressed as pounds per day of a particular constituent or combination of constituents.

(ff) National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System or NPDES Permit. A permit issued pursuant to Section 402 of the Act.

(gg) National Pretreatment Standard, Pretreatment Standard, or Standard. Any regulation containing pollutant discharge limits promulgated by the EPA in accordance with section 307(b) and (c) of the Act, which applies to industrial users. This term includes prohibitive discharge limits established pursuant to 40 CFR 403.5.

(hh) New Source. Any building, structure, facility, or installation from which there is or may be a discharge of pollutants, the construction of which commenced after the publication of proposed pretreatment standards under section 307(c) of the Act which will be applicable to such source if such standards are thereafter promulgated in accordance with that section and subject to the terms outlined in 40 CFR 403.3(m).

(ii) Nuisance. Anything which meets all of the following requirements:

(1) is injurious to health or is indecent or offensive to the senses or an obstruction to the free use of property so as to interfere with the comfort or enjoyment of life or property, and

(2) which affects at the same time an entire community or neighborhood or any considerable number of persons, although the extent of the annoyance or damage inflicted upon individuals may be unequal, and

(3) occurs during, or as a result of, the treatment or disposal of waste.

(jj) Pass Through. A discharge which exits the POTW into waters of the United States in quantities or concentrations which, alone or in conjunction with a discharge or discharges from other sources, is a cause of a violation of any requirement of the POTW's NPDES permit (including an increase in the magnitude or duration of a violation).

(kk) Person. Any individual, partnership, firm, association, corporation, or public agency including the State of California and the United States of America.

(ll) pH. A measure of the acidity or alkalinity of wastewater. pH is measured on a scale of 0 to 14, 0 being extremely acidic, 7 neutral, and 14 extremely alkaline. The pH corresponds to the logarithm (base 10) of the reciprocal concentration of hydrogen ions expressed in gram-ions per liter of solution.

(mm) Phenols. Total hydroxyl derivatives of benzene and its condensed nuclei (including phenol, chlorinated phenols, nitrophenols and chlorinated cresols) identified in Table 1, Section 307 of the Act which are detectable by EPA approved methods.

(nn) Pollutant. Any dredge spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discharged equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste discharged into water.

(oo) Pollution. An alteration of the quality of the waters of the state by waste to a degree which unreasonably affects such waters for beneficial use or facilities which serve such beneficial uses. Pollution may include contamination.

(pp) Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Total PCBs detectable by EPA approved methods.

(qq) Premises. A parcel of real estate including any improvements thereon which is determined by the City to be a single user for purposes of receiving, using, and paying for service.

(rr) Pretreatment. The reduction of the amount of pollutants, the elimination of pollutants, or the alteration of the nature of pollutant properties in wastewater prior to or in lieu of discharging or otherwise introducing such pollutants into a Publicly Owned Treatment Works. The reduction or alteration may be obtained by physical, chemical or biological processes, process changes or by other means, except as prohibited by Section 2.10. Appropriate pretreatment technology includes control equipment, such as equalization tanks or facilities, for protection against surges or slug loadings that might interfere with or otherwise be incompatible with the Publicly Owned Treatment Works. However, where wastewater from a regulated process is mixed in an equalization facility with unregulated wastewater or with wastewater from another regulated process, the effluent from the equalization facility must meet an adjusted pretreatment limit calculated in accordance with 40 CFR 403.6(e).

(ss) Pretreatment Requirement. Any substantive or procedural requirement related to pretreatment, other than a national pretreatment standard, imposed on an Industrial User (IU).

(tt) Publicly Owned Treatment Works or POTW. A treatment works as defined by section 212 of the Act, which is owned by a state or municipality (as defined by section 502(4) of the Act). This definition includes any devices and systems used in the storage, treatment, recycling, and reclamation of municipal sewage or industrial wastes of a liquid nature. It also includes sewers, pipes, and other conveyances only if they convey wastewater to a POTW treatment plant. The term also means the municipality as defined in section 502(4) of the Act, which has jurisdiction over the indirect discharges to and the discharges from such a treatment works.

(uu) POTW Treatment Plant. That portion of the POTW which is designed to provide treatment (including recycling and reclamation) of municipal sewage and industrial waste.

(vv) Severe Property Damage. Substantial physical damage to property, damage to the treatment facilities which causes them to become inoperable, or substantial and permanent loss of natural resources which can reasonably be expected to occur in the absence of a bypass. Severe property damage does not mean economic loss caused by delays in production.

(ww) Significant Industrial User.

(1) All users for which federal categorical standards have been promulgated;

(2) Any user that discharges an average of 25,000 gallons per day or more of process wastewater to the POTW (excluding sanitary, non-contact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater);

(3) Any user that contributes a process waste stream which comprises five percent (5%) or more of the average dry weather hydraulic or organic (CBOD and SS) capacity of the POTW treatment plant;

(4) Any user that has a reasonable potential, in the opinion of the manager or the pretreatment program approval authority to significantly or adversely affect the POTW treatment plant.

(5) The City may determine that an Industrial User subject to categorical pretreatment standards is a Non-Significant Categorical Industrial User rather than a Significant Industrial User on a finding that the Industrial User never discharges more than 100 gallons per day (gpd) of total categorical wastewater (excluding sanitary, non-contact cooling and boiler blowdown wastewater, unless specifically included in the pretreatment standard) and the following conditions are met:

(i) The Industrial User, prior to the City's finding, has consistently complied with all applicable categorical pretreatment standards and Requirements;

(ii) The Industrial User annually submits the certification statement required in Section 4.09(b), together with any additional information necessary to support the certification statement; and

(iii) The Industrial User never discharges any untreated concentrated wastewater.

(6) Any user classified as a significant industrial user under the above definition, except users for which federal categorical pretreatment standards have been promulgated, may be de-classified as a significant industrial user if, in the opinion of the City, the user no longer has a reasonable potential for adversely affecting the collection and/or treatment system or for violating any pretreatment regulations.

(xx) Significant Noncompliance. An industrial user is in significant noncompliance if its discharge meets one (1) or more of the following criteria:

(1) Chronic violations of wastewater discharge limits, defined here as those in which sixty-six percent (66%) or more of all of the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter during a six-month period exceed (by any magnitude) a numeric pretreatment standard or requirement, including instantaneous limits, as defined by 40 CFR 403.3(l);

(2) Technical Review Criteria (TRC) violations, defined here as those in which thirty-three percent (33%) or more of all of the measurements taken for the same pollutant parameter during a six-month period equal or exceed the product of the numeric pretreatment standard or requirement including instantaneous limits, as defined by 40 CFR 403.3(l) multiplied by the applicable TRC (TRC = 1.4 for BOD, TSS, fats, oil and grease; and 1.2 for all other pollutants except pH);

(3) Any other violation of a pretreatment standard or requirement as defined by 40 CFR 403.3(l), which may include a violation of BMPs, daily maximum limits, long-term average, instantaneous limit, or narrative standard, that the City determines has caused, alone or in combination with other discharges, interference or pass-through (including endangering the health of POTW personnel or the general public);

(4) Any discharge of a pollutant that has caused imminent endangerment to human health, welfare or to the environment or has resulted in the POTW's exercise of its emergency authority under authority of 40 CFR 403.8(f)(1)(vi)(B) to halt or prevent such a discharge;

(5) Failure to meet, within 90 days after the schedule date, a compliance schedule milestone contained in a local control mechanism or enforcement order for starting construction, completing construction, or attaining final compliance;

(6) Failure to provide, within 45 days after the due date, required reports such as baseline monitoring reports, 90-day compliance reports, periodic self-monitoring reports, and reports on compliance with compliance schedules;

(7) Failure to accurately report noncompliance;

(8) Any other violation or group of violations which the City determines will adversely affect the operation or implementation of the local pretreatment program.

(yy) Slug Discharge. Any discharge of a non-routine, episodic nature, including but not limited to an accidental spill or a non-customary batch discharge, which has a reasonable potential to cause interference or pass through, or in any other way violate the POTW's regulations, local limits or permit conditions.

(zz) Storm Water. Any flow occurring during or following any form of natural precipitation, and resulting from such precipitation, including snow melt.

(aaa) Storm Sewer. A sewer which carries storm and surface waters and drainage, but which excludes sewage and industrial waste.

(bbb) Total Suspended Solids / Suspended Solids. The total suspended matter that floats on the surface of, or is suspended in, water, wastewater, or other liquid, and that is removable by laboratory filtering. The term "Total Suspended Solids" is synonymous with "Suspended Solids".

(ccc) Unpolluted Water. Water to which no constituent has been added, either intentionally or accidentally, which would render such water unacceptable to the City for disposal to storm or natural drainages or directly to surface waters.

(ddd) Unclassified User. A user whose discharge does not correspond to any UCC because of variations in wastewater constituents or treatment costs.

(eee) User. A source of indirect discharge.

(fff) User Classification Code or UCC. Code designation assigned to commercial and industrial users based on their wastewater discharge strength and characteristics in comparison with domestic wastewater.

(ggg) Waste. Includes sewage and any and all other waste substances, liquid, solid, gaseous, or radioactive, associated with human habitation, or of human or animal origin, or from any producing, manufacturing, or processing operation of whatever nature, including such waste placed within containers of whatever nature prior to, and for purposes of, disposal.

(hhh) Wastewater. Liquid and water-carried industrial wastes and sewage from residential dwellings, commercial buildings, industrial and manufacturing facilities, and institutions, whether treated or untreated, which are contributed to the POTW.

(iii) Wastewater Constituents and Characteristics. The individual chemical, physical, bacteriological and radiological parameters, including volume and flow rate and such other parameters that serve to define, classify or measure the contents, quality, quantity, and strength of wastewater.

(jjj) Wastewater Discharge Permit or Permit. A legal document used as a control mechanism to ensure compliance with regulations that grants revocable permission to discharge wastewater to the sanitary sewer.

(kkk) Water Quality Requirements. Requirements for the City's treatment plant effluent established by the NPDES permit, or by State or Federal regulatory agencies. Water quality requirements include effluent limitations and waste discharge standards, limitations, or prohibitions which may be established or adopted by State or Federal laws or regulatory agencies.

(lll) Waters of the State. Any water, surface or underground, including saline waters within the boundaries of the state.

(mmm) Abbreviations. The following abbreviations shall have the designated meaning:

CBOD - Carbonaceous Biological Oxygen Demand

CFR - Code of Federal Regulations

IU - Industrial User

L - Liter

mg - Milligrams

mg/L - Milligrams per liter

NPDES - National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System

SIC - Standard Industrial Classification

TSS - Total Suspended Solids

1.03 Sampling and Analysis Methods and Procedures.

(a) Analytical Requirements. Analyses, including sampling techniques, shall be performed in accordance with the techniques prescribed in 40 CFR part 136 and amendments thereto. Where 40 CFR part 136 does not contain sampling or analytical techniques for the pollutant in question, or where the EPA determines that the part 136 sampling and analytical techniques are inappropriate for the pollutant in question, sampling and analysis shall be performed by using validated analytical methods or any other applicable sampling and analytical procedures, including procedures suggested by the Manager or other parties approved by the EPA.

(b) Sample Collection. Samples collected to satisfy reporting requirements must be obtained through appropriate sampling and analysis performed during the period covered by the report, based on data that is representative of conditions occurring during the reporting period.

(i) Except as indicated in Section 1.03(b)(ii) and (iii) below, the User must collect wastewater samples using 24-hour flow-proportional composite sampling techniques, unless time-proportional composite sampling or grab sampling is authorized by the Manager. Where time-proportional composite sampling or grab sampling is authorized by the City, the samples must be representative of the discharge. Using protocols (including appropriate preservation) specified in 40 CFR Part 136 and appropriate EPA guidance, multiple grab samples collected during a 24-hour period may be composited prior to the analysis as follows: for cyanide, phenol, and sulfides the samples may be composited in the laboratory or in the field; for volatile organics and oil and grease, the samples may be composited in the laboratory. Composite samples for other parameters unaffected by the compositing procedures as documented in approved EPA methodologies may be authorized by the City, as appropriate. In addition, grab samples may be required to show compliance with Instantaneous Limits.

(ii) Samples for oil and grease, temperature, pH, cyanide, phenol, sulfides, and volatile organic compounds must be obtained using grab collection techniques.

(iii) For sampling required in support of baseline monitoring and 90-day compliance reports required in Section 4.01(c) and 4.01(e), a minimum of four (4) grab samples must be used for pH, cyanide, phenol, oil and grease, sulfide and volatile organic compounds for facilities for which historical sampling data do not exist; for facilities for which historical sampling data are available, the Manager may authorize a lower minimum. For the reports required by paragraphs Section 4.01(a) (40 CFR 403.12(e) and 403.12(h)), the Industrial User is required to collect the number of grab samples necessary to assess and assure compliance with applicable pretreatment standards and requirements.

(c) All monitoring results obtained pursuant to this section must be submitted to the City, regardless of whether the City required such monitoring.